It’s a reflection of black folks’ confusion in the Age of Obama that African American scholars, thought leaders and political influentials have to defend answering the question: Is there a need for a black agenda?

By contrast, Latino leaders and illegal immigrant advocates show no such confusion. They criticize Obama without apology. And they have the audacity to march on Washington and demand that Obama focus on their agenda ahora.

Though I oppose comprehensive
immigration reform amnesty, I agree with the open borders crowd:
Change takes courage.

We have a responsibility to bring the question to the President of the United States. When you look at black people today, I’ve never seen black folks so fearful and scared. Black folks are in pain. And this is the first time since we’ve been in this country that we’ve been in pain and scared to do something about it.

[…]

When Obama says a rising tide lifts all boats, he means it. But the descendants of enslaved Africans have a different experience . . . When it comes to blacks, they tell us to shut up.

Why is it when it comes to Negroes . . . when it comes to black folks, we are suddenly persona non grata? I tell you that every president before you has had to deal with the black agenda. How are you going to be any different?

The panelists’ criticism was cloaked “in love.” But what’s love got to do with it.

As much as folk want to make this about me, it is not about me now, it has never been about me, and it never will be about me. And please know that I am okay with the long view of history on the depth and the consistency of my love to a Black agenda in the best interests of Black folk.

How are we going to do this dance with black leaders and the president when everybody is walking on eggshells because they are scared to hurt the president's feelings? Great presidents are not born, they have to be made. They have to be pushed.

Less than 24 hours after Tavis’ gabfest, illegal immigrants and their advocates will march on Washington to demand amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens who willfully flout the rule of law.

African Americans were receptive to the idea that corporate greed and the desire for cheap labor are to blame for the broken immigration system—though this message does not move them toward support for reform. They rejected as patronizing any message that singled out African Americans as different or separate from other Americans in their interests, and messages emphasizing the common interests of Blacks and immigrants also fell flat.

The high cost of cheap labor imposes an unsustainable burden on American taxpayers.

A recent Rasmussen poll found that 67 percent of American voters “say that illegal immigrants are a significant strain on the U.S. budget”:

Two-out-of-three (66%) voters say the availability of government money and services draw illegal immigrants to the United States. Nineteen percent (19%) think otherwise and do not believe government money and services are a magnet for illegal immigration. Another 15% are not sure.

These findings help to explain why 68% say gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States. Twenty-six percent (26%) think legalizing illegal immigrants is more important.
The majority support for controlling the borders has been consistent through several years of surveying.

The unemployment rate for African American workers remains unacceptably high at 15.8 percent, up 6.8 percentage points from the start of the recession in December 2007.

For many months the Congressional Black Caucus has worked to address the concurrent issues of chronic unemployment, poverty and the need to create jobs and strengthen the economy.

To further that agenda, the CBC is engaging in an ongoing campaign to seek policy solutions by engaging President Obama, leadership and members of Congress, and coalition partners in a strategy to put America back to work.

While black folks engage in shouting matches, other folks are mobilizing and demanding that Obama focus on their agenda.

Later this month, Latinos plan to march on Washington to demand comprehensive immigration reform amnesty for “12 million people who work, pay taxes, and are part of our communities, but are excluded from the full American family.”

And get this:

Immigration policy that keeps families together is good for the country: families help their relatives get jobs, get housing, and get started. Anti-family policies have put more than 5 million Americans who have applied to bring family members here into a never-ending bureaucratic line. Thousands of American families have been thrown into poverty because the breadwinners have been deported. We’ve created a new group of high tech indentured servants, captives of corporate sponsors and living without their families. All workers deserve to be with their families.

After 10 years, Tavis Smiley is ending his annual State of the Black Union conference, which spawned best-selling books and his critical stance toward Barack Obama.

[…]

Smiley also said that, unlike a decade ago, black issues now are being addressed by numerous other media outlets, commentators and bloggers.

The State of the Black Union “doesn't have the premium that it used to have - and that's a good thing,” Smiley told The Associated Press.

Though Tavis severed ties with title sponsor Wells Fargo, the AP reports money was not an issue:

Smiley said money was not a factor in ending the series — which cost “well over seven figures” each year and was free to the public — because Exxon Mobil and Nationwide Insurance had committed to major sponsorship deals in 2010.

Yeah, whatever.

They say if you can’t say something good about someone, then don’t say anything at all. Tavis’ State of the Black Union is dead. Good.

September 24, 2009

PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley is discovering that accountability is a double-edged sword.

Tavis is under fire for his longtime relationship with Wells Fargo, which is being sued by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The lawsuit alleges that Wells Fargo’s “wealth building” seminars helped steer black and Hispanic borrowers into subprime mortgages.

Back in June, blogger Gemma Holmes observed that if Tavis were white, his relationship with Wells Fargo and its “ghetto loans” would be “front page news”:

When Mr. Smiley first partnered with Wells Fargo in 2005, he was a TEACHER of economic empowerment and assembled seminars around the country as the keynote speaker for wealth building. Press releases filled every major news outlet inbox and black newspapers were infected with faxes stating Mr. Smiley’s desire to teach the principles of home ownership as the key for breaking the cycle of poverty in the African American community. All this knowledge was given at no charge to trusting black folks. This was the golden ticket to obtaining the elusive piece of the pie via Mr. Smiley’s recommendations.

Mr. Smiley stated he was “thrilled” to help black folks achieve their dreams but now that many of them have found themselves in a nightmare, where is he? Has he spoken out against the “ghetto loans” statement by Wells Fargo employees? Has he demanded accountability that he touts must be part of helping President Obama be the best President he can be?

But what appeared on the surface as a way to help black borrowers build wealth was actually just the opposite, according to a little-noticed explanation of the “Wealth Building” seminar strategy, contained in a lawsuit recently filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Wells’ plan for the seminars all along was to target black borrowers for higher-cost subprime mortgages, not for wealth-building, the suit charged. And the seminars were a part of the bank’s overall illegal and discriminatory practice of steering black and Hispanic borrowers into riskier and more expensive loans, the suit said.

In this economic climate we continue to be reminded every day that there is no perfect company. Part of the process of accountability is making sure that companies are taking steps to do the right thing, and that includes appropriate outreach to communities of color.

Our relationship with Wells Fargo began in 2005 as part of its commitment to increase financial literacy among African Americans. Those efforts included free wealth-building strategy seminars designed to help prepare attendees for their families’ futures through credit management, home ownership, investing and entrepreneurship.

Recently there has been a flurry of false reports about my relationship with Wells Fargo Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc. amidst charges that the company unfairly steered African American customers into costly sub-prime mortgages.

I addressed this issue many months ago with a statement posted on my website during the first quarter of this year when these allegations against Wells Fargo first surfaced.

My statement thoroughly explained that I was no longer conducting any business with the Wells Fargo Company. That initial statement has remained accessible on my website homepage since it was first posted, shortly after the State of the Black Union symposium, February 2009.

Baltimore has filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo alleging the bank intentionally targeted African Americans for high-interest mortgages in violation of federal law. Similar lawsuits have been filed against Wells Fargo by the city of Cleveland and the NAACP.

So, while Smiley pleaded for “a language of love as we make our choices” between Obama and Hillary Clinton (read: cut him some slack), he showed no love for Wells Fargo’s victims. By the time Smiley is out promoting his book on accountability next year, thousands of Wells Fargo’s borrowers will be out of their homes.

Smiley asked participants to give it up for the “free seat” made possible by Wells Fargo and his other corporate sponsors. That “free seat” was partly paid for by African Americans who were taken for a ride in their pursuit of the American dream of homeownership.

A year later, Tavis conveniently severs his relationship with Wells Fargo “shortly after the State of the Black Union symposium, February 2009.”

A Rasmussen survey found that 37 percent of Americans think Black History Month should be ended. Another 14 percent are “undecided.”

The survey also found decidedly mixed feelings about affirmative action. Forty-one percent think the election of the first African American president shows that black folks have overcome. Twenty-one percent are not sure.

I would just suggest to those people who seek to run in the wards of the city of Chicago where there are people of color living that they should tone it down because some of us are taking notes. Those people will run at their peril.

You know that tough times for America often mean tougher times for African Americans. This recession has been no exception. The unemployment rate among black Americans is a full five points higher than the rate among Americans as a whole.

Even before the recession struck, minorities faced a more precarious economic situation than whites, especially in the labor market. Now, 13 months into the downturn, it is clear that they have been hit hard.

The numbers include:

12.6 percent: The unemployment rate for African Americans in January 2009, an increase of 3.7 percentage points since December 2007 and the highest level since 1994.

43.8 percent: The increase in the number of unemployed African Americans from December 2007 to January 2009. In January 2009, 2.2 million African Americans were unemployed.

55.4 percent: The share of the African-American population that had a job in January 2009, 2.4 percentage points lower than in December 2007 and the lowest level since 1994.

$593: The usual median weekly earnings of African American workers in the fourth quarter of 2008 (in 2008 dollars)—$148.57 less than white workers’ usual median weekly earnings during the same period.

BTW, Wells Fargo is the “title sponsor” of Tavis’ talkfest. I may tune in to see whether he acknowledges their role in creating the home foreclosure crisis. After all, Tavis is big on holding folks accountable.